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Gift and Home Resources Expand for August 2007 New York International Gift Fair
White Plains, NY – Expansion of gift and home resources – across several key divisions – will make the 153rd semi-annual New York International Gift Fair a “must attend” market, Saturday, August 11, through Thursday, August 16, 2007, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, Passenger Ship Terminal Piers, and the Metropolitan Pavilion.
donovandesigns Unveils New Creations
New York, NY – Gifts that get “oohs” and “aahs,” notes that get noticed, gift wrap that gets saved—donovandesigns’ newest creations will grab your attention and get your customers talking. Donovandesigns’ new line-up of personalized notes, invitations, notepads and bag tags include eye catching colors and classic patterns like plaid, polka dots and stripes that are just waiting to be noticed. donovandesigns will exhibit at the National Stationery Show from May 19 to 23 at the Jacob K.
GHTA’s Retailer Advisory Board Announces Chicago Seminar Details
The Gift and Home Trade Association, the industry’s non-profit professional trade association, announces that it has scheduled a special event during The Chicago Market: Living and Giving(tm) on July 20, featuring its Retailer Advisory Board. This unique presentation will begin with a discussion forum at 4 p.m. in the Merchandise Mart Conference Center, followed by a trolley tour of local retailers where participants will see and experience the topics discussed.
The trolley tour will run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., and boxed dinners will be provided for each participating retailer.
Dicksons introduces new gift product for summer and fall
The Dicksons sales team gathered in Seymour, IN April 24th – 26th to preview more than 650 new items the company is introducing to the market May through July. This new product offering included items for Pastor Appreciation, Breast Cancer Awareness and baby.
The Dicksons brand offering included more than 50 framed art skus, more than 20 plocks, 30 plus wall crosses, almost 40 photo frames with a similar number of bookmarks. This offering contained 6 new Premiere Wall Art skus, Dicksons upscale wall art with wholesale prices from $130 to $160.
Consumer Spending Could Be Out of Gas; Rising gas prices finally are prompting some to cut spending
Wal-Mart worker Jean Sartore sees the effect of rising gas prices on the sales floor at work and when she gets in her 1996 Buick Park Avenue. With local gas prices at $3.27 on May 16, filling her car costs about $75—a day’s pay at Sartore’s Wal-Mart Supercenter (WMT) in Henderson, Ky. At work, Sartore says the gift and toy departments she oversees now get fewer shoppers.
Sartore used to take unpaid days off occasionally but can no longer afford to do that. “I can cut back on the little things, but I still have to fill up each week,” she says. “That means no days off.
Beyond the basket; Marketing, creativity keys to success of Lakewood gift business
Kay Ehalt’s creations go beyond the traditional wicker basket full of fruit and chocolates.
Instead, Ehalt fills gallon paint cans, time capsules, picnic baskets and boxes with gourmet coffee, snack mixes and gifts selected with the recipient in mind.
The owner of Dream Baskets By Kay, Ehalt has been building gift baskets for nine years, first in an office at Garrison Street and Jewell Avenue, and since August at a storefront at 1000 S. Wadsworth in Lakewood.
Gift shops can ring up $$$
When Scotty Heuck was helping to organize a children’s shop at the then-new Cincinnati Museum Center in the early 1990s, her allotted space was three floors down, and “you had to pay to get in” because it was in the natural science museum, she recalls.
The gift shop at the Cincinnati Art Museum had even humbler beginnings. It was formed in 1969 by a few volunteers with a borrowed budget of $3,000 and an empty museum closet for a storefront.
Over the next decade, the children’s store at the Museum Center moved its way up to the main floor as it became more profitable.
Sugar Shak Serves Succulent Sweets
Princeton — The Sugar Shak’s mother and son team of Carolyn Neal and Cole Thomas combines culinary training from Le Cordon Bleu with family recipes for sweet treats that have boomed in popularity.
“The week before Christmas, we had only been open since Nov. 1, and we had 380 orders,” Thomas said. “Then the Wednesday before Christmas, at 5 we had to cut off the orders because they were up to 2,706, and they weren’t just a pie.
The little big box: Planners prefer trend toward smaller chain stores
Just as town planners have lobbied to help prevent a 75,000-plus-square-foot store from coming to Andover, two of the biggest names in big-box retail have decided to change their game plan.
A zoning bylaw amendment passed at last month’s Town Meeting will limit businesses in the town’s 70-acre mixed-use district to 65,000 square feet in size. But this year, both Wal-Mart and Home Depot have moved forward with plans to build more stores as small as 40,000 square feet.
Up With Paper Introduces Collegiate Boxed Notes & Snow Globe Greetings
Mason, OH – Up With Paper, the original pop-up greeting card company, announced that it will be shipping a new line of university-themed and – licensed pop-up boxed notes and snow globe greetings in August.
Hot ‘Sweet PETatoes’ Brand Drives Pet Memory Making Category
South San Francisco, California—Solonics, Inc. recently signed a licensing agreement with noted Midwest illustrator Gail Green to create and distribute the Sweet PETatoes line of memory products, designed exclusively for dog and cat pet owners under their SolonicStyle division.
Flirt Greeting Cards Introduces Flirt Keys: A Fun, Easy Way to Approach New People
Atlanta – Flirt Greeting Cards have arrived with a variety of fun, Flirt Keys for you. Flirt Keys are 3″ x 3″ note-sized greeting cards with flirtatious messages imprinted inside each one. If you’ve ever had difficulty letting someone know that you’d like to meet them, or you want someone to know that you’re thinking about them, let Flirt Greeting Cards help you count the ways. Each message has its own unique number, offering a one-of-a-kind flirt-by-number system. The days of the awkward, uncomfortable, search for the right words to approach someone with are over.
Oh, baby, what’s with the tee? Edgier messages grace the chests of tykes to the amusement — and disdain — of adults
Oshkosh bibbers are, like, so passe.
May Off to a Good Start for Retailers
After struggling through April with one of the weakest performances on record, the nation’s retailers are enjoyed improved sales so far in May, helped by Mother’s Day shopping sprees and warmer weather, according to two reports which track industry sales.
Still, the outlook for consumer spending remains murky.
The International Council of Shopping Centers-UBS (nyse: UBS – news – people ) Index reported that same-store sales rose 0.8 percent for the week ended Saturday compared with the prior week, and rose 2.6 percent year-over-year.
The Johnson Redbook Retail Sales Index, which monit
Businesses, organizations say higher prices for letters, packages will add up quickly
Peoria – For Bibo Gallerie, an eclectic art and gift shop, the increase in the price of stamps is just the latest in a string of higher business expenses.
Rising gasoline and electricity costs have required the store to raise prices, even as profit margins have fallen.
Now, because much of its inventory comes in through the mail, the Sheridan Road shop also will have to deal with added costs passed on by shippers.
“It’s difficult to stay in business because profit is eaten away by increases,” store manager Kris Nelson said. “You can only go so far in prices.
Triangular Shaped Cards – Not for Squares; Nacho Loco Card Game Wins The National Parenting Center 2007 Seal of Approval
Buffalo, NY – The National Parenting Center has awarded Buffalo Games the 2007 Seal of Approval for Nacho Loco, an addictive new card game featuring unique triangular shaped cards.
“We’ve tested this game across several demographics: family, friends, young and old, everybody loves this game. It’s fun, it’s fast, it’s crazy, it’s colorful, it’s Nacho Loco” said Mark Predko, Director of Marketing for Buffalo Games.
The object of the game is to acquire points by getting rid of all your cards while blocking opponents from doing the same.
Pittsburgh’s Airmall is model for Hopkins’ plan
Pittsburgh — On her plane ride from Raleigh, N.C., a 46-year-old advertising executive flipped through a fashion magazine and discovered that gladiator sandals are all the rage.
Minutes after she landed at Pittsburgh International Airport, she had a new pair on her feet.
Natalie Holden bought the trendy sandals at Nine West, an upscale women’s shoe store at the terminal’s Airmall, a short walk from her gate.
Funky Ferndale; Cool vibe draws shop owners to Nine Mile
Ferndale — Fashionable. Fabulous. Funky.
These days, fashionable again applies to Ferndale. With eclectic shops and boutiques selling everything from high-end designer apparel to vintage clothing, Ferndale’s thriving business district at Woodward and Nine Mile is certainly avant-garde.
Fabulous? That works, too. Where else in Metro Detroit will you find a bank that devotes more floor space to the works of local artists than, well, banking? Or a store like Beautiful Home, where owner Violeine Oliver puts her contemporary touch on mahogany and teak furniture made in Africa?
And funky?
4 totally hot housewares
Since seeing them a few weeks ago at the Chicago Housewares Show, Judy Matheson has had trouble keeping them in her two Colby Avenue shops in downtown Everett.
“We’ve put in four orders and we’re out again already,” she said late last week.
The “them” Matheson is talking about is a nifty little gadget called the Keepeez Vacuum lid, which comes in many sizes and retails from $3.50 to $13.
“It’s a local product made in Vancouver, Wash., but I had to go to Chicago to see it,” Matheson said.
The Keepeez is a material used in between layers of bulletproof glass that clings to a bowl or T
Shop brings aura of exotic to Newark
Newark – Icha Gomet points out a huge pair of Fulani earrings she keeps in a case at the store she runs with her spouse, Jacques.